DINWIDDIE, VA - Two dogs are credited with saving a child from a fire before perishing in the flames themselves. 

The 10-year-old told investigators he awoke early Monday morning to his home in flames after his two brindle pitbulls jumped in his bed. 

First responders learned on the scene that the boy escaped through a window, but the two dogs were still inside the burning trailer home. Authorities later found the child across the street at a neighbor's home. 

"He was just as smutty as he could be. Just smut up his nose, all over his face, his hands," said Ray Dawson, a neighbor. "He said his dogs came in there and started jumping on him and woke him up."

The boy was taken to a local hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. He is currently being cared for by family members and is expected to recover. 

The bodies of the two dogs were discovered by authorities during a search of the scorched building. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation and authorities are questioning whether there were working smoke alarms inside the home.